


Don't Give Me Up

by thatluckyrabbit



Category: Aladdin (1992)
Genre: (not following the show's canon), AU, Alternate Universe, Angst, Coping, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Hopefully not OOC, M/M, Male Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-07
Updated: 2014-10-07
Packaged: 2018-02-20 06:21:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2418248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatluckyrabbit/pseuds/thatluckyrabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're supposed to live forever."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Give Me Up

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came to me after a sad dream I had. The dream happened a few days after Robin Williams' death, and also it was right after watching Aladdin on TV. It was basically what I wrote, except a lot sadder. Anyway, I wanted to write more for this pairing, because these are one of my favorite types of pairings: the big, silly one and the smaller, crankier one that gets mad all the time. Plus I know there's practically no fanfics or fanart for this pairing, but guess what? My biggest OTP started out as just an idea between my best friend and I, and now it's our top OTP (Stretch/James from Casper). So yeah. sometimes you don't need fanfics or fanart to ship something, just the idea alone.
> 
> Plus this is based on the song "Not About Angels" by Birdy, because a friend of mine made a Robin Williams tribute using that song, and now when I hear that song it reminds me of him. Plus it's from Fault in Our Stars, which is a sad movie to top, so... yeah.
> 
> anyway, I tried with this. Hope it turned out okay! Again, doesn't follow the cartoon. I like to pretend thecartoon never happened in canon, so let's pretend, okay?

 

"You told me you weren't dying."  
  
From where he lay, Genie couldn't do much but move his head slightly in the bird's direction. "I didn't want you to worry." He didn't attempt to crack a joke to lessen the tension, and his tone lacked its usual optimism. He knew he was dying... he knew it all along. But he knew that if he told Iago that their last few months together would be wasted wallowing in sadness. So Genie didn't regret it one bit. He hated lying to him, but he knew it'd been for the best.  
  
Of course the parrot didn't think so. "Well not I'm not worried—I'm _fuming_!"  
  
Using anger as a crutch, Genie figured. The parrot was upset, clearly, but not because Genie lied. He was upset because the seemingly impossible was going to happen—and soon. _What is it called again? Oh, something... Some kind of coping mechanism... Using anger as a coping mechanism. I remember now!_ And he knew Iago enough to know this was how he dealt with things. While Genie used hope and optimism during tough times, Iago used anger. And Genie knew the parrot was going to scream his head off at him any second, if not already.   
  
But much to his surprise, nothing came. To angry yells or accusing tones—just silence. And that was worse, Genie figured, because he only had a few days left, and he really didn't want to spend those last days dealing with Iago's silent treatment. He wanted him to at least say _something_.   
  
And it happened. "How could you." Iago didn't even yell. There wasn't even a drop of anger in his tone. If anything his voice cracked slightly. "How could you make me think you were gonna be okay when..."  
  
"...I'm dying?" Genie let that slip out before he could help himself. Surprisingly his partner didn't respond with anger like he again expected would happen. The bird just fell silent. The blue man simply shrugged. "Again... I didn't want you to worry. No use in spending my last few months with everyone all sad and mourning." He smiled a little, but it seemed forced. "Where's the fun in that?"  
  
"...you said you would be fine." Iago was unusually quiet he spoke, and it actually hurt Genie a lot to hear. "You said..."  
  
"I said a lot of things, Birdy." _Birdy_ was Iago's special nickname from Genie when their odd relationship started, and while it did annoy and embarrass Iago at first, he grew fond of the name eventually. "But that was the only one that wasn't true."  
  
They lapsed into silence again. Iago turned his head away, and Genie was so sure then that the silent treatment had begun. Until he heard a small noise that sounded oddly familiar.   
  
So he summoned a box of tissues with his magic, which took much more effort than usual, and used up much of his energy, possibly speeding up his upcoming demise. It appeared in front of Iago, who, naturally, choose that time to actually explode.  
  
 _"You big blue idiot!"_ He screeched, turning and tossing the box back at Genie, who flinched at his tone (and the tissue box), but wasn't the least bit surprised by it. "Are you trying to kill yourself faster?!"  
  
"Sorry." Genie smiled sheepishly. "I thought you were crying." He frowned though when he noticed that Iago's eyes were in fact filled with tears (despite his angry expression). So he picked up the box of tissues that was thrown back at him and held  it out for the tearful parrot. "Here. You need this more than I do."  
  
"Why? You're suddenly _okay_ to die or something?" Iago snapped harshly, wiping his eyes with his wing instead of taking the tissue offered to him.   
  
"10'000 years is a long enough time for me."  
  
"Yeah, 10'000 years as a _prisoner_!"   
  
"Maybe," Genie agreed with a weak shrug. "Maybe 90% of that time was spent in servitude, sure... But even with just the other 10% that was my freedom, I got to do everything I wanted to do. I made friends, traveled the world, went on adventures..." He smiled a little. "Met you. Even if you were just the evil sidekick at the time." He expected Iago to get defensive at the joke, but was surprised to find the parrot sullen again.  
  
"...you said you wouldn't leave me..."  
  
"And I'm not. I'm always gonna be with you."  
  
Iago groaned in irritation at that. "You don't really believe that nonsense, do you? You are leaving me, cause you won't physically _be_ here with me." Before Genie could respond, Iago spoke again, "And don't say you will _'in spirit'_ because that doesn't mean crap." He took a deep, shaky breath. "I want to believe you when you say you'll always be here, but you won't. When you're dead, you're dead. That's the end of the story."  
  
"The story never just ends there," Genie said quietly. "There's a reason why I can't bring people back from the dead..." He paused. "Aside from it being scary and _possibly_ ending the entire world as we know it."   
  
Iago simply stared at him, almost in disbelief. "...you're not supposed to die. You're... you're _Genie_. You're supposed to live forever."  
  
"No one lives forever, Birdy..." Genie said quietly. "Not even me."  
  
Iago just sat there, perched on the small table across from the bed. He wanted to move over to Genie, to just lie next to him, to be held by him, knowing it might be the last time... but he wasn't sure if he could handle it...   
  
But Genie could tell that, deep down, Iago just wanted to be next to him if tonight was their last night. Which it very much was. He motioned for the parrot to come over, opening his arms wide for him. "Birdy... come here..."   
  
Iago hesitated for a few moments before he made his choice. He flew over into Genie's awaiting arms, lying down so the much bigger arms could wrap around him in a warm embrace. Genie's body heat was much warmer than usual (the illness taking over his body, slowly but surely, in the last few months), but the parrot was able to ignore that.   
  
They weren't the typical overly sentimental couple that Aladdin and Jasmine were (except for Genie on many occasions), but right now, they wanted to lay in silence. To enjoy the sound of each other's heartbeat (knowing that one heartbeat would cease completely very soon).   
  
There really was no need to say "I love you" a million times, or to even say at it all. They didn't need to say it now, because they already knew the truth.  
  
And besides... the silence and the overlapping sound of their heartbeats was enough for them.  
  
  



End file.
